Cardinal crush Utah and Colorado to stay undefeated

No. 3 Stanford girls’s soccer (12-0-1, 5-0-0 Pac-12) introduced dwelling all six factors from their highway journey, coming again towards No. 25 Colorado (10-3-1, 2-2-1 Pac-12) and Utah (5-4-5, 1-2-2 Pac-12) to maintain their excellent undefeated season alive.

Of their recreation towards the Buffaloes on Thursday, the Cardinal went down early, conceding a grass-cutting shot from the Pac-12’s main scorer Shyra James within the eleventh minute. The remainder of the primary half was all Stanford, however they didn’t appear to have the ability to break by, amassing seven whole pictures and placing three on purpose. All it took was a wondergoal from sophomore midfielder Jasmine Aikey, who unleashed a good looking roller from exterior the field to stage the rating within the fortieth minute.

It was not lengthy earlier than they scored once more, with freshman midfielder Joelle Jung firing in a shot from simply contained in the penalty space to place the Cardinal up simply earlier than the half. Fifth-year midfielder Maya Doms headed in a cross from freshman ahead Erica Grilione to seal Stanford’s third come-from-behind win on the season.

“I believe it’s actually a testomony to our character and our combat as a group, as a result of not a variety of groups have that grit to come back again after being down,” mentioned redshirt sophomore ahead Andrea Kitahata. “It takes winners to come back again from that scoreline.”

Recent off of their win, the group traveled to Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah, for a noon recreation towards the Utes. Kitahata broke by early on this one, slotting away a cross from freshman ahead Maryn Wolf to provide the Cardinal a lead they protected till the top.

“We’ve acquired an awesome protection,” Kitahata mentioned. “So retaining these shutouts is large for us, and sometimes having the ability to put only one likelihood away is all we actually want. So I’ll take a one to nothing win any day.”

This was Stanford’s seventh shutout of the season, showcasing one in every of their largest strengths: defensive solidity. “I believe we’re simply so sound at any line, whether or not that be the protection, the midfield and the ahead line,” mentioned senior goalkeeper Ryan Campbell. “For me particularly, each recreation, I clearly go in with the mindset of eager to get a shutout.”

The Cardinal has but to let in a couple of purpose in any match, averaging lower than half of a purpose allowed per recreation.

However their dominance doesn’t cease with the protection: Stanford’s offense is a shot-creating juggernaut, outshooting their opponents in 11 out of 13 video games and greater than doubling their adversaries’ output on 9 of these events.

“Creating these possibilities and placing these objectives away is admittedly what helps us to win these video games,” Kitahata mentioned.

With the group’s success, it’s simple to get complacent. Nonetheless, Campbell careworn the significance of staying targeted and at all times enhancing: “I believe we’ve achieved a very good job of not being consequence pushed. It’s simple to say, ‘Let’s simply win this recreation.’ However we additionally at all times speak about enjoying a great recreation.”

This mentality has propelled the Cardinal to new heights this season. Bettering after successful the Pac-12 championship is a tall order, however this 12 months’s squad appears to have shored up its play away from dwelling, with a tie at Georgetown (7-1-6, 3-0-3 Huge East) the one blemish on their report.

“On the highway, there are completely different challenges,” Campbell mentioned. “This weekend, we had altitude, we had a variety of issues. However I believe in the event you depart a recreation speaking about what tips the group performed, or what the climate introduced, I believe you’re already dropping as a result of it’s in regards to the group and the unit.”

“Our objectives this season haven’t modified,” Kitahata mentioned. “We wish to win a nationwide championship and we wish to win the Pac-12.”

Ranked third within the nation and unbeaten by 13 video games, Stanford’s girls’s soccer group is on the trail to the championship.

The Cardinal will proceed its in-conference play with a three-game dwelling stand, beginning with Washington (6-5-2, 1-4 Pac-12) on Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. PT.